They are being honest

"Hi, how are you, Harini?" Dr. Bailly asked Harini Gottumukkala, speller 282.

"Nervous," Harini replied.

"Nervous? OK, take a breath," Dr. Bailly suggested. 

Still, Harini misspelled "perforation," a series of small incisions to facilitate tearing along a predetermined line.

The Missouri sixth grader is out.

So is Morgan Salvador, speller 284. The Nevada seventh grader misspelled "parietal," of, relating to or located in the upper posterior part of the head; specifically : relating to either of the pair of bones that form the cranial roof of this part of the skull.

"Hi Morgan, how are you?" Dr. Bailly asked as she approached the mic.

"Hungry," the Nevada seventh grader replied.